AISI 301L Stainless Steel vs. SAE-AISI 1040 Steel
Both AISI 301L stainless steel and SAE-AISI 1040 steel are iron alloys. They have 75% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 301L stainless steel and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 1040 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 210 to 320 | |
| 160 to 180 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 22 to 50 | |
| 13 to 20 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 240 to 530 | |
| 220 to 340 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 77 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 440 to 660 | |
| 350 to 390 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 620 to 1040 | |
| 570 to 640 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 250 to 790 | |
| 320 to 530 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 280 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 890 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1430 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1390 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 15 | |
| 51 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 16 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 2.3 | |
| 7.0 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 2.7 | |
| 8.0 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 13 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 2.7 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 39 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 130 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 210 to 300 | |
| 79 to 96 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 160 to 1580 | |
| 270 to 760 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 22 to 37 | |
| 20 to 23 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 21 to 29 | |
| 19 to 21 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.1 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 14 to 24 | |
| 18 to 20 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0.37 to 0.44 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 16 to 18 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 70.7 to 78 | |
| 98.6 to 99.03 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0.6 to 0.9 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 6.0 to 8.0 | |
| 0 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |